German K98

[Bizio]

Here I am again with this Erma 27 dated 1938.
I am going to import to Italy from abroad.

What do you think about ?
Thank you.































---------- Post added at 06:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:01 PM ----------































---------- Post added at 06:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:02 PM ----------

[Jack71]

I joined this forum to ask about a rifle I recently acquired. I bought a Mauser K98k and about 1400 rounds of ammunition for $450. I figured the ammunition was worth about that much, so it was a good deal even if the rifle isn't worth a huge amount.

My question is, what I can find out about the rifle, and also, approximately what the rifle itself is worth. Description:

- BNZ 4 (Steyr 1944). German markings intact. No electro-penciling. No import stamps.
- Bolt, receiver, barrel numbers match.
- Stock, buttplate, trigger guard numbers match (but do not match bolt, receiver, barrel).
- Bolt, receiver, barrel have no rust, pretty good blueing. I'm not good at estimating percentages, but blueing is only missing in a few places. Good rifling. The rifle is an accurate shooter. When I got it, it had the cleaning rod and one of the capture screws - missing the sight hood and the other capture screw.
- I added an aftermarket capture screw and an aftermarket sight hood. They look right.
- Buttplate, trigger guard/floorplate are grayish with mottled spots. I'm not an expert, but I think it's a phosphate finish.
- Stock is solid walnut. No duffel cut or other modifications. Has not been sanded. Several military markings are visible - three eagles with numbers on the right side near the H (Heer) mark - and what I believe is a W on the underside of the stock. There are small dents on the left side of the butt. It looks like it may have banged into something on the soldier's belt as he walked? Only visible within a few feet, no cracks or gouges, just the small dents. It's hard to see, but the stock has a toe splice - I didn't see it until about the 20th time I inspected the rifle. Stock is medium/dark reddish brown (raw linseed oil). Looks pretty good.
- Includes a leather sling - the leather looks too new to me to be original, though the markings appear German. I think it's a reproduction.

My belief is that the stock is older than the rifle, and was most likely swapped onto the rifle during the war by a German armorer, or possibly at the factory? But I am only guessing, and would love to hear expert opinions on how this stock may have come to be on this rifle.

Is this probably a GI bring-back? The person I bought it from got it from a pawn shop, and doesn't know. There are no papers with it.

Any thoughts on its value?

Thanks!

[kar98k]

I joined this forum to ask about a rifle I recently acquired. I bought a Mauser K98k and about 1400 rounds of ammunition for $450. I figured the ammunition was worth about that much, so it was a good deal even if the rifle isn't worth a huge amount.

My question is, what I can find out about the rifle, and also, approximately what the rifle itself is worth. Description:

- BNZ 4 (Steyr 1944). German markings intact. No electro-penciling. No import stamps.
- Bolt, receiver, barrel numbers match.
- Stock, buttplate, trigger guard numbers match (but do not match bolt, receiver, barrel).
- Bolt, receiver, barrel have no rust, pretty good blueing. I'm not good at estimating percentages, but blueing is only missing in a few places. Good rifling. The rifle is an accurate shooter. When I got it, it had the cleaning rod and one of the capture screws - missing the sight hood and the other capture screw.
- I added an aftermarket capture screw and an aftermarket sight hood. They look right.
- Buttplate, trigger guard/floorplate are grayish with mottled spots. I'm not an expert, but I think it's a phosphate finish.
- Stock is solid walnut. No duffel cut or other modifications. Has not been sanded. Several military markings are visible - three eagles with numbers on the right side near the H (Heer) mark - and what I believe is a W on the underside of the stock. There are small dents on the left side of the butt. It looks like it may have banged into something on the soldier's belt as he walked? Only visible within a few feet, no cracks or gouges, just the small dents. It's hard to see, but the stock has a toe splice - I didn't see it until about the 20th time I inspected the rifle. Stock is medium/dark reddish brown (raw linseed oil). Looks pretty good.
- Includes a leather sling - the leather looks too new to me to be original, though the markings appear German. I think it's a reproduction.

My belief is that the stock is older than the rifle, and was most likely swapped onto the rifle during the war by a German armorer, or possibly at the factory? But I am only guessing, and would love to hear expert opinions on how this stock may have come to be on this rifle.

Is this probably a GI bring-back? The person I bought it from got it from a pawn shop, and doesn't know. There are no papers with it.

Any thoughts on its value?

Thanks!

that's too many mismatched parts to have been done by the Germans. sounds like it was assembled together in the States after it arrived. Bubba does a lot of strange things that need fixing. no import mark could mean it's been here since before import marks were made mandatory in 1968. without pictures, though, it's hard to tell.

[Bizio]

What is please your opinion about the Erma 27 dated 1938 I posted above ?
I just asked authorization to Police Office today to bring it from Austria to Italy since I decided to buy it.

[mtoms]

The erma looks good to me. Very early 27 code right when they were changing from s/27.

Don't know if you plan to shoot it, so It may not matter to you, but it looks like the recoil bolt has "setback" in the stock. It can be repaired, had the same issue with my RC 27 1938, but I would take apart and check for cracked wood behind the recoil bolt and repair it if indeed it needs it before shooting.

[Bizio]

The erma looks good to me. Very early 27 code right when they were changing from s/27.

Don't know if you plan to shoot it, so It may not matter to you, but it looks like the recoil bolt has "setback" in the stock. It can be repaired, had the same issue with my RC 27 1938, but I would take apart and check for cracked wood behind the recoil bolt and repair it if indeed it needs it before shooting.

Thank you for your answer, mtoms.
Can you please show me linking the proper picture what is exactly the "recoil bolt" and where is the problem with stock ?
Thank you.

[Jack71]

that's too many mismatched parts to have been done by the Germans. sounds like it was assembled together in the States after it arrived. Bubba does a lot of strange things that need fixing. no import mark could mean it's been here since before import marks were made mandatory in 1968. without pictures, though, it's hard to tell.

Thanks -

To be clear, there are two sets of parts. Each set matches but the two sets do not match:
- The "gun" parts (bolt, barrel, receiver) all match
- The "stock" parts (stock, handguard, buttplate, trigger guard/magazine floorplate) all match

There are no parts on the gun that do not match one of those two sets. This means that at some point, somebody put this rifle into this complete stock. That could have happened in the U.S. or Germany (or elsewhere, I suppose). There's no way to know when and where.

Also, as I mentioned before, there are no signs of "Bubba" on the gun - no sanding, no sporterization, no cold blueing. Someone did paint the markings on the receiver white.

My main underlying question is about the rifle's value, if you or others have thoughts on that. Thanks.

[Jack71]

---------- Post added at 03:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------

Sorry about the picture sizes. Please don't quote them in case it blows up the browser for other people, so we don't carry that forward to other pages. That's the Mauser I described earlier, BNZ 4 in what I believe is an older stock. It does have the cleaning rod, I just forgot to put it in for the photos. Thanks

[mtoms]

Thank you for your answer, mtoms.
Can you please show me linking the proper picture what is exactly the "recoil bolt" and where is the problem with stock ?
Thank you.

Photos 4 and 8 show both ends of the recoil bolt - directly below the receiver ring running completely through the stock. The recoil lug on the bottom of the receiver transfers recoil energy to this bolt when the gun is fired. It appears both ends of the bolt are pushed rearward into the stock indicating failure of the wood behind the bolt - where the recoil energy is distributed. If it has, the entire receiver barrel assembly will also shift rearward stressing action screws holding the barreled receiver in the stock. If it shifts too far rearward stock splits will appear in the tang area of the stock wrist and behind the trigger guard . Doesn't look bad yet but needs to be checked and repaired if needed - if you intend to fire it.

[Bizio]

Understood now. Thank you for your explaination.